Sweet Cake
by Lilybud the Storyteller
Summary: What happens when you add Luke, Maya, and a love for pancakes? Quite a bit, actually. Sequel to my other story "Sweet Things".


Sweet Cake

A Harvest Moon: Animal Parade fanfiction short story

Sequel to "Sweet Things"

By, Lilybud the Storyteller

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the Harvest Moon games, or its characters. **

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**You know, coming back to Harvest Moon fanfiction (and Luke!) is like coming home. The characters (specifically Luke, hehe) just comes so much easier now, and it's still a lot of fun! Anyways, welcome to my sequel to "Sweet Things"! The idea to continue the one-shot was inspired from a review by ****_CAPJHMPAgirl, _****so a huge thanks to her! Also, thanks to all of the loyal reviewers/favorites/and follows who have continued to read my stories! It means a lot to know that people enjoy my work, so thanks. :)**

**I hope you enjoy the story!**

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"Flour?"

"Check."

"Eggs?"

"Check."

"Milk?"

"Check.

"An obnoxious cook with pink hair?"

"Che_—Luke!"_

A slow, wide grin spread on the carpenter's face. "Just making sure," he said, raising his hands in the air defensively. "You don't want a stick-in-the-mud to spoil our fun, do you?"

Maya frowned at him, unamused. "He's not _that_ bad."

"Oh, really?" Luke's smile twisted into a scowl and he narrowed his eyes to condescending slits. "You call that a salad?" he growled, tossing his hair with a superior air. "That's nothing but a mess of weeds! You need to _toss_ the lettuce, not throw it around like a wild elephant! "

The waitress couldn't help but laugh at her friend's impersonation. "How can an elephant throw something? They don't have any hands."

Luke's surly expression was dropped when he gave her a look that said she was missing the obvious. "They use their trunks. _Duh_." He raised his arm and positioned it below his nose, swinging his limb back and forth like a pendulum. "See?"

Maya chuckled as she turned to the kitchen counter, which was filled with all sorts of culinary ingredients. Grabbing a wide, smooth bowl, she said, "Hey, elephant, hand me the eggs, please. And for the record, Chase's hair isn't pink—it's _orange_!"

"Nope. It's pink like a baby's blush." The said elephant used his _trunk _to pass the eggs to her one by one.

"That makes no sense," decided the waitress. With the tip of her tongue sticking out from the side of her mouth in deep concentration, Maya carefully cracked the first egg against the bowl's edge. The yolk and white slid to the bottom of the bowl, and a second one quickly joined it. At the last egg, however, the fragile shell broke in her hands and specked the already prepared eggs with white chips.

"Licorice sticks!" Maya moaned, trying desperately to scoop the small shards out with a spoon.

"Aw, don't worry about it," reassured Luke, patting her on the back. "It'll add a nice crunch."

"But Chase always tells me—"

"If Chase tells you something, that's a sure sign you should do the opposite," interrupted the carpenter. "Now, what's the next ingredient? Flour, right?"

Still looking slightly crestfallen, Maya nodded. "Yeah. We need—" she quickly checked the cookbook that laid open on the counter. "—two cups of flour."

"Easy-peasy."

Luke and Maya added the last ingredients to the bowl, and then swiftly whisked the watery contents. During this, the waitress asked, "Are you sure we're following the recipe correctly?"

"Uh huh," said Luke, adding a sprinkle of flour to the mixture.

"Are you _really_ sure? I don't want to mess this up."

"I'm positive."

"Super-duper positive? 'Cause step number three looked a wee bit confusing."

"Maya," he said, a note of impatience in his voice, "I got this. I checked it several times."

There was a moment of silence. Then…

"Are you—"

_"Yes!" _he almost shouted, exasperated. Maya was quiet after that.

Once the pale, loose batter became thoroughly mixed, Luke set the stove's temperature to high while the waitress poured the substance into a pan. For the next few minutes, the two stared intently at the batter, which seemed to take an agonizing long time to turn brown.

"Why are we doing this, again?" the carpenter suddenly asked. Sure, he loved spending time with Maya, but he could've thought of some betters ways to do so than cooking stuff. He reserved that duty to Pops, mainly because Luke gets bored halfway through cooking and abandons the process; a bad habit since they live at a carpentry filled with flammable wood.

"Because I asked you too," Maya responded simply.

"Right…but why, specifically?"

"Oh. Well, I want to prove that I can cook something, you know, without messing it up."

"I already told you," began Luke, flicking his finger at her playfully—a childhood habit, "you cook just fine. That snob doesn't know what he's missing."

The waitress looked doubtful. "Then why didn't you eat the cookies I made you last week? I spent _forever_ making them!"

A sudden image of a plateful of hard, black lumps rose up in the carpenter's mind. "I, uh, ate them later. You just didn't see," he said, scratching at his bandana nervously. He felt relieved (and slightly guilty) when he saw Maya's eyes widen in delight.

"Really? Well, did you like them?"

"O-of course," Luke said hastily, not wanting to ruin the tiny smile that was beginning to spread on the girl's face. Another memory emerged of him covering the cookies' burn marks with tons of icing before _accidentally_ giving them to Bo. He pushed that thought away. "They were delicious."

_"Yes!_ One step closer to becoming a professional chef!" Maya exclaimed, a determined expression on her face.

Swallowing nervously, Luke was relieved when he saw that the batter had transformed into a semi-solid pancake. It was an even bigger relief to see that it looked completely and absolutely ordinary; there were no burn marks of any sort, or anything else unusual. Maybe Maya truly was improving.

"Hmm…"

The sound made the carpenter turn his head to the waitress. The look on her face as she stared at the pancake was contemplative and scrutinizing. _Oh-oh,_ Luke thought, suddenly anxious.

Maya tapped her forefinger against her chin thoughtfully. "It looks too…brown."

"Pancakes are _supposed_ to be brown." The carpenter frowned.

She stubbornly shook her head, sending her short pigtails bouncing. "_Other_ pancakes are brown, but _ours_ need some flair! Something that screams, 'Hey, look at me! I'm the best pancake ever! Eat my yum!'"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a tall order."

Ignoring this, the waitress snapped her fingers as her eyes lit up. "Color!" she exclaimed. "It needs color."

"But you said to follow the reci—"

_"Luke!" _The girl whirled to face him, placing her hands on the carpenter's face so they were eye-to-eye. "Lesson one! No arguing with the chef!"

Knowing it was pointless to argue, Luke rolled his eyes and shoved his hand deep into his pocket. He rummaged around. "Axe polisher? Nah. Hey, what's slimy? Eh, better not ask. _Aha!_"

There was a crinkly sound before Luke pulled something out of his horde of mysteries. Maya held out her hand and Luke placed a small, square package in her palm. "M&M's," he declared proudly. "They're a bit squashed, but that will just add some character."

"They're perfect!" The waitress ripped the bag open and sprinkled the pancake with the colorful candies, which embedded themselves into the soft batter. The empty wrapper was returned to Luke, who stuffed it back into his pocket (for what reason, nobody knows).

Now it was the carpenter's turn to scrutinize the flamboyant food. "You know, I think it needs something else. The M&M's and the eggshell gives a nice crunch, but now we need something smooth to balance it out."

"Like what?"

"Eh…" Luke began to pace back and forth in the kitchen, his head down like he was trying to solve a difficult problem. After a minute there was another _'aha!',_ and the carpenter ran to the kitchen cabinet. He delved through the contents before pulling down a large yellow bag, holding it in view. Through a section of clear plastic, Maya spotted tiny, brown pieces.

"Chocolate chips solve all problems," Luke declared, before pouring a generous handful onto the pancake.

"Great," said Maya. "But…there's only candy on there. It needs something healthy."

It was as if she had mortally wounded the carpenter. "_Healthy_?" he said, aghast.

The waitress just gave a mischievous smile; it was an odd contrast to her usual cherub-like face.

"Trust me."

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**Ten Minutes Later:**

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The carpentry's door banged against the wall as it was thrown open. The racket was quickly followed by the sounds of heavy footsteps. _"Luke!"_ Owen hollered, peering around the shop. In his gloved, beefy hands were two galleons of soda. "I got the stuff!" His deep voice thundered against the wooden walls, seeming to shake the building.

"In here!" came Luke's voice.

Knowing the place by heart, the miner followed the sound into the warm kitchen. The smells of so many different tantalizing foods tickled his nose. He stopped mid-step when he saw Maya and Luke sitting at the dining table. "What are _those_?"

Owen, of course, was referring to the overflowing piles of…_something_ that Maya and Luke were eagerly scooping into their mouths. The food was lumpy with molten, rainbow streaks like crayons gone wrong. The entire surface was covered with a variety of fruits—strawberries, cherries, blueberries, and bananas—and thick streams of syrup were pooling onto the plate. A messy mass of whipped cream was the finishing topping. If a unicorn was to throw up, the result would be what Luke and Maya were eating.

"Paw-thacks," mumbled Luke through a full mouth. Owen knew the carpenter long enough to know that he meant: _pancakes_. A dribble of the food was sliding down Luke's chin, and he was frantically trying to scoop it back into his mouth.

"What's the soda for?" asked Maya, before spooning up another bite.

"Burping contest," said the miner shortly. "When did you guys make this?"

Luke said, "Dasf mourf'ning." _This morning._

The expression on Owen's face was of pure disgust and horror.

_"And you didn't invite me!"_

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**Gosh, I am falling in love with this Luke and Maya pairing! I miss some of the sassy remarks I could create with Molly, but the absolute sweetness makes up for it! ****_That_**** and Maya does has some snap in her, too.**

**If anyone has seen a mistake or typo-grammar or otherwise-then just send the correction in a review, please! I strive to improve, after all. **

**Anyways, thank you for reading my story! I hope you've enjoyed it, and please leave a review!**

**Oh, and if anyone has a better summary for this story, I'm all ears! I'm at a loss for this one...**


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